Truck Driver FAQs

As of December 2025, Roehl drivers with at least one year on the job are averaging $1,345 a week (almost $70,000 a year). It's also important to know that the top 50% of Roehl drivers average $1,525 per week (nearly $80k a year).

Many factors impact a driver's earnings - things like the type of trailer being pulled and how frequently a driver is home. Other thing impacting a driver's wages include living in our Primary Commercial Zone (where we have the most customers and freight) and being a driver trainer, where you can earn more by helping recent CDL school graduates or drivers who got CDL training with Roehl start their careers.

In some fleets, Roehl has company drivers who make over $100,000 a year.

Roehl offers an innovative dynamic pay plan that better rewards a driver for their time. Roehl drivers are not paid a static cents per mile - instead they are compensated differently based on the length of haul on the load. Learn more about how Roehl drivers Take Home More with a dynamic pay plan!

All fleets range differently depending on the freight that is available at that time. Our goals range from 2,300 - 2,600 miles per week in the national fleets, 2,100 - 2,300 for our regional fleets and 2,800 in the HOMEtime PLUS™ fleets.

Experienced van or refrigerated drivers complete a three and a half day onboarding process. On the afternoon of the third day, you will be dispatched and start moving freight.

Experienced flatbed or curtainside drivers complete a three and a half day onboarding process and then start cargo securement training (paid) before being dispatched.

We offer health, dental, vision, life, disability, 401(k), profit sharing, vacation and holiday pay. See Roehl truck driver benefits.

Yes! We offer both a lease purchase program AND the support to help those who want to own their own business be successful!

You can learn more about our Business Owner Support System / B.O.S.S.™ Benefits and the trucks we have available on our Owner Operator opportunities page.

Our trucks are typically Freightliners/Internationals, and they come with an 1800 watt power inverter, EPU, in cab auxiliary heater-Espar heater, EZ pass, Prepass, Freightliners have a podium and straps ready for your fridge to go right behind the passenger seat, so no moving cabinets and rearranging anything.  Due to the invertor, the truck can house things like microwaves, tvs, cooking accessories, but they are not provided for the drivers. They do also have TV wall mounting brackets, air ride seats, Bluetooth equipped radios, air release 5^th wheels, cab comfort systems

We do! That goes through a third party, which orientation can set you up with, there is a small payroll deduction you can sign up for and they handle that for you. We will make sure you have access to the biggest break the government can offer you. It does depend on your hours away from home, days that you work, etc. Right now, more than half of our drivers are using the per diem benefit. Visit this page for more information on Roehl's Per Diem Gold Program.

65/67 (pedal/cruise)

Roehl's vacation policy is similar to the holiday policy. The more notice, the better, the more communication, the better.

If you have a vacation you know about right now, we can get that added to your prehire agreement in your offer letter. It will not be paid, but we can assure you have that time off.

After you are hired, you will work with your team on future vacations. After one year of service, you get one week of vacation, etc. However, if your vacation will be longer than 7 days, you may be asked to clean your truck out so while you are gone, that truck can still be used and you may be reassigned a different truck on your return. 

Extended vacations could require your resignation and you may be asked to reapply when you are ready to return. Your team will work with you on how to move forward and what your vacation time would mean for you when you are ready to discuss the details.

Internationals are single bunks and Freightliners ​​​​are double bunks, with a telescopic ladder to allow easy access to the upper bunk.

We cover the six major holidays, whether you work or not, you will get the holiday stipend. If you work, you will get that in addition to your regular pay for that day. 

If you have to be home for a particular holiday, let your team know with as much notice as you can. Our operational teammates are great with communication and working with their drivers. Christmas is a pretty easy holiday to be home for; our drivers are home for Christmas unless they do not want to be! If there is a different holiday that has more value to you/your family, just communicate that to your team and they will work with you to make it happen!

Remember, the more notice, the easier it is to accommodate.

Most likely not. Less than 1% of our freight goes into New York City. If that’s where your load takes you, you will be required to travel there, and you'll receive a $75 bonus for doing so. We've had a couple of memorable NYC loads recently - one of our teammates delivered the NBA All-Star Game flooring to Madison Square Garden. A flatbed teammate delivered a large piece of equipment that was using in the filming of the Russell Crowe movie Noah.

Yes, the Roehl Honor Program™ gives military veterans recognition and lets them take advantage of their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits at the same time through a two-year apprenticeship that has been approved by the U.S. Departments of Labor and Veterans Affairs. A Roehl Honor Program Specialist can provide you more details.

We have better than refresher training! If you are a CDL-A holder who stepped away from your commercial driving career for other non-driving employment, the Roehl Relaunch Program™ helps re-sharpen your driving skills while also recognizing your prior experience as a commercial vehicle driver. When you complete the Roehl Relaunch Program™, you will be given credit for your prior experience rather than starting over at entry level driver pay rates.

The Roehl Relaunch Program is open to former truck drivers who may have left trucking for positions in construction, manufacturing, retail and other industries as well as current drivers in local trucking jobs who may not be getting the income they need.

Contact a Driver Employment Specialist to learn more about how you can use your experience.

No. Our driving teammates are paid our innovative dynamic pay plan that better compensate a driver for their time. Read more about the watch-outs with sign-on bonuses in this informative blog post The Many Ways Truck Drivers Can Get Paid.

Yes, as a member of TeamRoehl, you'll have access to discounts on a variety of items. One of the most popular employee discounts is on mobile phone services allowing you to save money on your existing or new contracts with most of the major cell phone companies.

Yes, the MyRoehl App available for many Apple and Android devices allows our drivers to scan paperwork, read fleet communication messages, access pay and more.

Click here to see the MyRoehl app in Google Play.

Click here to see the MyRoehl app in the Apple iTunes store.

We also have our company internet site, www.TeamRoehl.com, where we share news about the company and teammates, and other helpful information like Job Aids and Roehl Youniversity, where you can take courses to further your knowledge about your career.

To be considered an experienced driver, you will need 60,000 solo miles. We offer Advanced Training for drivers with 20,000-59,999 solo miles. If you have less than 20,000 miles, you’ll be considered an inexperienced driver and be eligible for our Phase Training program. If you have at least one year of prior experience and have not driver in the last three years, you may be eligible for our Relaunch Program.

We offer home daily and local truck driving jobs in some areas. In a National Fleet with flexible home time, you’ll be out 11-14 days with 3 days at home. You can stay out longer and then be home longer, too.

Our HOMEtime PLUS™ Fleets offer 14 days out with 7 days at home, 7 days out with 7 days at home or a rotation of 7 days out, 4 at home and 7 days out 3 at home.

Our regional fleets have you home weekly for 48 hours.

We also offer dedicated fleets in some areas. Dedicated fleets tend to have weekly home time.

As a driver, you may want your spouse, child, or someone else like a parent, brother, sister or friend to ride along in the truck with you. You can do that with Roehl! As an experienced truck driver, you become eligible to take a passenger after 30 days of employment, children must be 10 years of age to ride along, and there is a minimal fee for rider insurance.

Yes! You can bring your dog or cat with you on the road with our Pet Passport Program.

Our trucks are predominately Freightliner and International. We run van, flatbed, curtainside and refrigerated trailers. Check out our trucking equipment. 

You will typically be home within a week of your orientation. You’ll be able to pick up personal items you normally take on the road with you.

Our terminals are located in Marshfield, Wisconsin; Chicago (Gary, Indiana); Atlanta (Conley), Georgia; Dallas (Grand Prairie) Texas; Phoenix, Arizona; Appleton, Wisconsin and Iron Mountain, Michigan. We also offer drop yard locations throughout the country. See Roehl's locations.

If you do not have an email address, you may click this link to access certain on-boarding documents.

https://portal.tenstreet.com/roehl

Drivers who are eligible to enter Canada can receive additional compensation to/from/through Canada.

Yes, the Roehl Honor Program™ gives military veterans recognition and lets them take advantage of their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits at the same time through a two-year apprenticeship that has been approved by the U.S. Departments of Labor and Veterans Affairs. A Roehl Honor Program Specialist can provide you more details.

We offer dedicated and regional routes in some areas. Use the search feature to see truck driving jobs near you (available in your zip code)!

We will reimburse you up to $6,000 for tuition costs. You will need to provide a receipt showing the amount you paid for your CDL training or truck driving school tuition.

We provide transportation, lodging and most meals while you are in onboarding.

Yes! If you are considering a career as an over-the-road truck driver, there's no better place than Roehl's On-the-Job Get Your CDL Training Program where you will be paid while you learn the skills to obtain your CDL. We've prepared a 6-Step Guide to Getting Paid CDL Training to help.

Yes, as a member of TeamRoehl, you'll have access to discounts on a variety of items. One of the most popular employee discounts is on mobile phone services allowing you to save money on your existing or new contracts with most of the major cell phone companies.

Yes, the MyRoehl App available for Apple and Android devices allows our drivers to scan paperwork, read fleet communication messages, access pay and so very much more.

Click here to see the MyRoehl app in Google Play.

Click here to see the MyRoehl app in the Apple iTunes store.

We also have Roehl Youniversity where you can take courses to further your knowledge about your career.

You are paid in half day increments. Less than 6 hours is counted as a half day and over 6 hours is counted as a full day.

Yes. We do have resources that can be helpful. For example, we offer free CDL practice tests that will help you prepare to get your commercial learners permit - CLP - which you'll need to start your training.

Your 4-day pre-employment on-boarding process begins with Qualification Day. Qualification Day includes a DOT urine drug test and a non-DOT hair follicle drug test, and it may also include a new DOT physical, if we were not able to accept a previous DOT physical. The remaining time includes the Roehl Way of Protective Driving class, followed by additional training/coaching, integration into Roehl’s policies/procedures, and meetings with operational teammates, including fleet managers.

This video explains our recommendations and suggestions for what you'll need for your training.

You are home based, we dispatch in and out of home location as long as you have a safe place to park.

The pre-employment on-boarding is five days. Your on-the-job training with a Certified Driver Trainer lasts 19-24 days (or longer if more time is needed).

You should bring all of the documents required for you to operate a Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) and for you to complete an I-9 as required by the USCS–US Citizen and Immigration Service. Check the weather for your onboarding location so you dress appropriately.

We provide transportation, lodging and most meals while you are in onboarding.

Our trucks are predominately Freightliners and Internationals. We run van, flatbed, curtainside and refrigerated trailers. Visit our equipment page to learn more about the tractors and trailers at Roehl.

We offer health, dental, vision, life, disability, 401(k), profit sharing, vacation and holiday pay. Check out Roehl's truck driving job benefits.

$112 per day paid training while working a full day with a Roehl Driver Trainer.

To ensure that we are hiring qualified applicants, we have a thorough application process before scheduling onboarding. We suggest that you submit an application before you graduate from a CDL course to get the process started.

You’ll head out with a Certified Driver Trainer after onboarding. Our Certified Driver Trainers’ arrival times are dependent on freight movements.

The 1st of the month following 60 days of employment.

If you do not have an email address, you may click this link to access certain on-boarding documents.

https://portal.tenstreet.com/roehl

We provided student orientation at our Gary, Conley, Grand Prairie, Phoenix and Marshfield Terminals.
Experienced drivers are in orientation for 4 days while students are there for 5 days.
If you are going into our Flatbed division, there is an additional 3 days for cargo and securement training.

Once you're out on the road making money, you may want your spouse, child, or someone else like a parent, brother, sister or friend to ride along in the truck with you. You can do that with Roehl!

A couple of callouts: if you joined us through the Safety and Job Skills Training Program (as a recent CDL school driver), you become eligible to take a passenger 6 months after you complete Phase 2. Children must be 10 years of age to ride along, and there is a minimal fee for rider insurance.

Yes. This is one of the most frequently asked questions we receive. We created the Get Your CDL Program because we need truck drivers to move our customer's freight. Largely due to the massive retirements of the Baby Boomer generation, the demand for truck drivers in America will continue to increase dramatically over the next ten years, and that makes truck driving a very stable career choice. Our company sponsored cdl training program connects you with skills you can use to improve your and personal life and helps us continue to grow our business.

Because we spend a lot of money and invest heavily in you, we ask for your commitment in exchange for the value of our program. The value of the training is in effect a loan to you – a loan you’ll never have to pay back as long as you simply complete the training and work as a heavy duty truck driver for us for 120,000 solo miles (about 18 months) after your training. We ask for your formalized agreement and you can be sure we’re promising to hold up our end of the deal as well.

No. Our Get Your CDL program offers training as part of your job - it's hands on training. If you were to go to a truck driving school, you would not be paid and you'd have come up with the tuition for the school. Our program is a job. We pay you while we train you to get your CDL. Then, we continue to pay you as you complete your on the job training as a truck driver.

Click the Apply Now button and select "Get Paid to Get Your CDL".

We've also created this step-by-step guide with instructions to get better-than-free CDL training to help you.

The next step is for one of our Driver Employment Specialists to review and verify the information you provided. We’ll contact you when we’re ready to move forward so please watch for our email.

We provide training at or near main operations centers. Where you live plays a role in where our program is available and where you train. You can see a complete list of our training locations on our Get Your CDL™ Program Training Locations page.

Stay in touch with us via Roehl.Jobs or on social media as we may expand the program in areas that meet our customers’ expectations and business objectives.

Yes. While you would not be eligible for our GET Paid While You Get Your CDL™ Program you can certainly attend a different cdl training program and then come to Roehl as an inexperienced truck driver. We have and continue to work with many truck driving schools, offering their cdl students our excellent on the job truck driver training.

Before you begin the program, you will pay for a commercial learners permit (CLP). You’ll obtain your CLP directly from the state you live in. The costs for a CLP vary by state. Our Steps to Getting Your CLP page will help you connect with your state licensing office.

Yes. You’re an employee of Roehl Transport, and in addition to getting paid while you get your CDL, it also means you’ll have access to our: medical, dental, vision, life, short-term and long-term disability insurances and so much more. For example, we offer a 401k, profit sharing, excellent passenger and pet policies and the latest in equipment and safety technologies and training. Another benefit is our career path options – both inside and outside of the truck. Learn more about Roehl's benefits on our Get Your CDL Pay and Benefits page.

We have better than refresher training! If you are a CDL-A holder who stepped away from your commercial driving career for other non-driving employment, the Roehl Relaunch Program™ helps re-sharpen your driving skills while also recognizing your prior experience as a commercial vehicle driver. When you complete the Roehl Relaunch Program™, you will be given credit for your prior experience rather than starting over at entry level driver pay rates. The Roehl Relaunch Program is open to former truck drivers who may have left trucking for positions in construction, manufacturing, retail and other industries as well as current drivers in local trucking jobs who may not be getting the income they need.

The main difference between the divisions is the type of freight each hauls. For example, in our van division we haul a wide variety of products and materials inside enclosed trailers. In contrast, flatbed drivers pull trailers with equipment and other commodities (like building products) secured on open trailers. The refrigerated division hauls cheese and other temperature controlled goods – freight that needs to be a consistent temperature. Our curtainside division is like a mix between van (the trailers are enclosed with sturdy side “curtains” that can be removed to load freight that might also travel on a flatbed trailer from the side. The curtainside trailers remove the need for tarping a load (because the enclosed curtainside trailer protects the shipment from the elements).

We created this Capacitación CDL en el trabajo para conductores de camiones page to help those looking for CDL training in Spanish.

When you commit to truck driving, you commit to:

• Being away from home a week or more at a time. Roehl offers some of the best mix of work and home time schedules in the business, however you'll need to be prepared for being away from home.

• Making a plan with loved ones. Cover your bases to make sure the right support is in place at home before you’re on the road. Discuss who will pay the bills, when you’ll talk to the kids, and who your family can turn to in case of an emergency.

• Managing more than driving. You’ll be planning routes, documenting trips, securing freight, interacting with customers, inspecting your vehicle and making routine adjustments as you go.

Roehl is a proud member of the CVTA (Commercial Vehicle Training Association) and the NAPFTDS (the National Association of Publicly Funded Truck Driving Schools), and we work with many schools. We can help direct you to resources, truck driving schools and even offer pre-hire letters (which some schools may requires).

Roehl is pronounced like 'rail.' The company name rhymes with rail, tail, and mail.

Every trucking company is different, but experienced truck drivers know that many carriers pay drivers quite a bit less than the number of miles actually driven. HHG, or household goods miles, is an antiquated way to pay. When comparing HHG and Practical route mileage carriers, you’ll want to consider all the elements that make up a great pay plan – from cents per mile to the number of miles per week, plus all the extras that the companies pay for.

Pay Per Mile, also called Cents Per Mile or CPM, is the rate that a driver is paid for each mile that they drive. The actual pay is calculated by multiplying the CPM by the number of miles driven. Truck drivers can earn anywhere from $0.39 CPM to $1.50 CPM, depending on the carrier, location and other factors.

Important to know: Roehl offers Dynamic Pay Plans that feature different CPMs based on the length of haul that better reward drivers for their time & performance.

Trucking companies use different methods to calculate miles driven. Many, many carriers still use methods that leave drivers with fewer paid miles than more progressive companies. If you are a truck driver or want to be a truck driver, use this guide to understand how trucking companies calculate miles and how you can take home more with Roehl’s address-to-address practical miles. It’s as easy as asking a trucking company “How are my miles calculated?”

Household Goods Miles

HHG (also called "short route miles") is the shortest distance between two points traveling on authorized highways, and it is still what many shippers and carriers base their rates on. Per Rand McNally: HHG is the standard mileage guide that Shippers and Carriers use to negotiate rates for freight. It's the shortest legal highway mileage from two points.

Practical Route Mileage

Drivers know that the best and fastest routing is sometimes not the shortest. For example, bypassing a city is usually faster than driving through. This means taking the longer route around, resulting in more miles and less time.

This is the concept behind practical route mileage pay. Practical routes are longer, and more accurately represent the miles actually driven. Drivers paid for practical routes are paid for more miles.

Important to know: Almost twenty years ago, Roehl Transport became one of the first major trucking companies to pay truck drivers practical route mileage. Roehl drivers are paid for more of the miles they actually drive, and those miles add up to 5-8% more in their paychecks.

Once again, Roehl led the industry in how driver mileage is calculated.

Roehl Transport enhances Practical Route Mileage with Address-to-Address Mileage calculations. This means that Roehl drivers get paid the practical route miles from pick-up address to destination address rather than from city center to city center – so they are getting paid for more of the miles they actually drive.

Hub Miles

Years ago, the hubodometer was a measurement device installed on the axle of the truck to measure the miles driven. Today, the odometer is used to calculate the number of miles driven. To calculate hub miles, the number from the odometer is stored in the truck's computer, which is then transmitted back to the trucking company to calculate pay. Very, very few companies pay hub miles. Variations can exist between vehicles, and hubometers are not perfect.

Address to address practical route miles have the advantages of using the practical route and the actual starting and ending address for a load. As a result, these mileage calculations more accurately reflect the miles Roehl drivers have driven on each load.

Let’s look at an example load to see the difference.

For the purpose of our example, our starting address is:
the 1700 block of 49^th Ave N
Minneapolis, MN 55430

And the destination address is:
the 600 block of East Marceau St.
St. Louis, MO 6311

Using the Short Route/HHG calculation, this load pays 542 miles.
Using Practical Route, this load pays 565 miles.
And using address-to-address mileage the load pays 571 miles.

As you can see, the short route miles can leave you feeling, well, a little short. In this case, 29 miles short.

Companies that use HHG may not have the sophistication to use practical route miles, or they may simply want to keep their driver pay lower because many drivers do not know how the miles are calculated.

Simply put, HHG calculates shorter routes and fewer miles per load. Practical miles follow routes that are longer but take less time because the practical route is usually the preferred route for the shipper, carrier and the truck driver.